A 45-year-old Fort Collins mother who enjoys animal costumes admitted Friday to having sex with a teenage boy she introduced to the “furry” lifestyle.

Under the terms of her guilty-plea deal Friday, Richael L. Michels, 45, must register as a sex offender and could still face jail time when she is sentenced by Larimer County Judge Dave Williams on Nov. 12.

In exchange for pleading guilty to misdemeanor sexual assault and unlawful sexual conduct, prosecutors dropped other charges, including felony sexual assault on a child.

Michels, who is married, now admits to having sex “on multiple occasions” with a 16-year-old boy she took to furry events.

Furries enjoy dressing up as animals, but members have said sex is not routinely part of that fantasy. Michels allegedly dressed as a cat and went by the name “Kitten.”

At a hearing Friday, Michels told the judge she is bipolar, taking prescription drugs, seeing a psychiatrist and undertaking other mental health treatment.

Michels’ husband first told the state Department of Human Services he thought his wife was having the affair, after he grew suspicious about her activity on the Internet and she had become immersed in the furry life style, according to the July arrest affidavit.

According to arrest documents, other members confronted Michels about the inappropriate relationship, which included kissing and other displays of affection at events.

Michels was a friend to the boy’s parents.

According to the arrest affidavit, the boy told police that Michels “even made a comment about the irony of (his) mom trusting her as a mentor . . . and the whole time she was having sex with him.”

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